Heroes of Olympus Oneshots
by NinjaDemigod
Summary: Really unusual oneshots for Heroes of Olympus. Takes place after BoO. The chosen love interest will not be with their present girl/boyfriend if they have one. Rated T for graphic scenes and strong language.
1. Chiron (fatherly)

You were in the training area, slashing furiously at a dummy that looked like it had been attacked by a hellhound. However, you were not as angry as you seemed. Just a tad annoyed because of a nightmare you had had the night before.

Ugh, nightmares. No demigod likes them.

At one point, you stood back, breathing heavily from the ferocity and force you had been swinging your knife with. You were sweaty and tired from the effort. The dummy was practically destroyed, you noted with a hint of pride. Satisfied with your work for the day, you threw the dummy into a pile of about four others, also completely demolished.

A chuckle sounded from behind you, and you whipped around, glaring at what appeared to be Chiron. "What?" you hissed rudely, scowling at his amused expression.

He raised his eyebrows. "I do believe the training dummies are meant for _training_ and not _murdering_ ," he drawled humorously.

You huffed, sheathing your knife. "Well, I had some problems that needed to be solved."

At that, Chiron's amused face shifted into one of concern and sadness, but no pity. That's what you liked about him; He didn't act like you were some wounded animal that needed to be consoled. "Is it the nightmares?" he asked quietly, so no one would hear.

Your glare turned to the ground, hands curling into fists. "Yes," you muttered, gritting your teeth. "But that's nothing new." Your tone was bitter and sarcastic, and although you knew Chiron didn't deserve it, you couldn't help but feel angry.

He sighed. "My dear, I've said repeatedly that I could try to brew a potion for you, to help calm them down. Or get a child of Hypnos to help. I don't suppose you'd like to take me up on that offer?"

"No," you stated stubbornly, crossing your arms across your chest. "You said it yourself; it could take months since there isn't a potion invented yet. And the Hypnos kids are always sleeping. It wouldn't matter, anyway. Besides, they aren't even that bad. I can deal."

You both knew those last two lines were complete lies. They were _bad_. Worse than any other demigod's. You both remembered the time you had been in the infirmary, caught in a horrible nightmare. You had woken up with bloody nail marks all the way down your legs, Chiron gazing down at you with worry. According to him, you had been crying out and scratching furiously at your legs, so hard that it drew blood.

You had been forced to tell him about your ongoing nightmares. How you never had a peaceful night, how your sleep was plagued with nightmares, how you always woke up feeling worse than when you went to bed.

Just one of the side effects that came with being daughter of Phobetor, god of nightmares.

On the plus side, you could give people you despised nightmares, shadow travel (that power wasn't just for the Hades kid!) and make nightmares go away. Except your own, apparently. You'd tried before, but you were always so terrified in the nightmare, that you couldn't concentrate on anything besides it. You and Chiron had been having lessons once a week to try and harness that power, but so far, it appeared futile.

Chiron sighed again, much sadder this time. "If you say so, child. However, do know that you can talk to me about anything." Anything being, nightmares.

You kept your hard gaze on the ground, not daring to look up at him and see the kind, sad look on his face. It might just make you burst into tears. "If you say so, Chiron."

He stayed there standing in front of you for a few moments, then turned around and left. You stood quietly, no distinguishable emotion on your face, then walked out as well.

The second you were in your cabin, a lone tear slipped down your face, your cold mask crumbling faster than you could manage. Knees shaking, you slid to the ground, back pressed against the wall, as you buried your face in your knees and took deep, trembling breaths.

 _Why?_ you wondered bitterly, _Does Chiron care so must?_

 _Doesn't he see how much it breaks me inside?_

(~)

You didn't sleep for the next 3 nights. You hadn't wanted to. The fear of the nightmares was so big, and growing bigger, that you had just laid awake all night, terrified to even blink. Every shadow, movement and sound made you scramble panicked for your knife, to the point where you just kept it clasped under the covers for safety.

Throughout the days, you didn't speak to anyone, growing more and more moody and tired as the days without sleep went on. You snapped at anyone and everyone, making them cower in fear, but it was only a mask to assure they didn't see _your_ fear.

By the fourth day, however, you were downright exhausted. Your legs had given out several times already during the day. You couldn't think straight and were seeing doubles, vision blurry. Many Apollo kids had approached you, concerned about why you were trembling, your face was whiter than di Angelo's, and you had dark bags under your eyes.

You had waved each of them off by saying one simple word that would surely make them go away; "Nightmares." They each made the 'oh' face (since every demigod understood nightmares) and backed off, leaving you in peace. Which probably wasn't such a good idea, because then you were left alone with your thoughts, nothing to occupy your brain into keeping awake.

Then, the nighttime came. Once again, you told yourself you weren't going to sleep, breathing out deeply through your nose, and setting your head down gingerly on your pillow.

You were out like a light.

Sadly, the nightmares weren't. They attacked, and they attacked _bad_. It was your worst nightmare ever.

( **A/N** this may be a bit gruesome. Especially the second paragraph. Feel free to skip. I know that reading this would make me dream about it.)

At first, the dreams were the usual ones. Hundreds of tiny spiders that crawled up your legs all over your body, their spindly legs tapping all over your skin until you were engulfed by the sheer amount of them. Soon, there were so many with no place to go, that they forced themselves up your nose and into your mouth, crawling down your windpipe and swarming your lungs.

You fell to your knees, gasping for breath and _suffocating_ since there was no room left in your lungs. Still, there were more that came. They pierced your eyes, scratching and slicing them until they were able to enter your skull. You screamed and wailed in agony, clawing at your eyes in an almost manic way. But it was to no avail.

The spiders reached your brain, and you clutched your head, screaming in a way that no human should. You sounded like a wild, savage animal from the way those shrieks left your throat.

When the spiders finished eating your brain, everything flashed white and you found yourself in a glass container, set in a dark, spacious room. All around you, there were men in lab coats, some writing things in note pads, some just talking to each other, paying no attention to you standing in the middle of the room.

You watched them wearily, too exhausted from the previous experience to try and break out. Besides, they weren't doing anything, so at least you had time to breath.

However, the relief didn't last long. All of a sudden, one of the men nodded his head firmly, and every single scientist turned their head to look at you.

You gasped in shock and tried to back away, but your back hit the glass wall. And they were _everywhere._ You couldn't escape their piercing gazes, nor could you avoid the fact that _they all had the same face._

With an untold command, water started to magically fill up in your container. You watched it rise, mind not functioning properly, and only when it reached waist-length did your senses kick in and you realised what they wanted to do to you.

 _They're going to drown me._

You screamed and shrieked, pounding on the glass walls for them to get you out of there. But not one man helped you. They just stood and watched you with those emotionless stares, as the water raised to a frightening shoulder height. Your voice grew panicky and slightly hysterical.

"Let me out! Let me out!" you shrieked, starting to hyperventilate when the water reached chin level. "Help me!"

You couldn't shout any longer. You needed to get air before going under. So, when the water nearly filled the whole container, you took one huge breath, and went under.

Eyes wide, you stared fearfully at how the men started to come closer, as though curious of how you would drown. You could do nothing except watch as they got closer and closer, until they were pressed up against all sides of the container, not allowing you to see anything besides them.

You couldn't help it; the fear was just too strong.

You screamed.

The icy water came rushing into your lungs, and you tried to gasp for air, but only succeeded at breathing in more water. You choked and clawed at the walls, desperate that one of them would break the glass and let you escape. Nobody so much as flinched.

When your sight filled with black dots growing larger, you knew that a new nightmare would be coming. But you didn't have the will to fight it.

All night, you faced monsters. Demons of the mind. And all night, you lay weak and trembling before them, letting them do whatever they wanted. It was useless to resist. You would never win.

But nothing could have prepared you for the final nightmare.

You dreamed that you were in a dark, cold, _evil_ place. You knew immediately, with sickening awareness, that this was Tartarus. You were shaking so hard you could barely see straight, but you definitely felt the terror of being in such a place, wide-eyed in fear, yet staring only into the distance. The air was choking you and glass shards on the ground cut into your (now bare) feet. You squeezed your eyes tight together and clamped your hands over your ears, but nothing blocked out the horrid voice that echoed in your head.

 _Well, well, well,_ it hissed gleefully. _What do we have here?_

"G-go away," you whimpered, curling up into a ball.

 _Now now, that's not the way to treat your great-grandfather, is it?_

Your shaking increased tenfold as you let out a small sob. You wanted to get out, you wanted to get out, you wanted to get-

All of a sudden, you felt a presence next to you that radiated extreme power, more powerful than the Gods'. You flinched and tried to scuttle away, but the commanding voice froze you in place in fear.

 _Open your eyes child._ The sarcastic, amused tone was gone, replaced by a deathly evil voice. _Look at me._

Against your will, your head slowly turned toward the sound and your eyes forced themselves open.

You were staring straight into the monstrous face of Tartarus himself. If a swirling whirlpool and inward spiral of darkness even counted as a face.

You screamed and tried to jump away, but your legs wouldn't move. No part of you could. You were paralyzed in fear, not being able to do anything as he got closer and closer, cackling manically, until his outstretched hands grazed your shirt and everything went dark.

(~)

( **A/N** the nightmares are over, don't you worry child... please keep reading)

You woke up screaming, tears streaming down your face, sheets thrown on the floor and clothes drenched with sweat. Your eyes darted all around the room, searching for the evil Primordial, and even though you tried to convince yourself that the nightmares were over, your mind wasn't believing it.

Every shadow jumped out at you, looking like Tartarus. You grabbed your knife and held it in front of you weakly, but your arm was shaking so hard that it dropped harmlessly out of your hand onto the bed. You were too terrified to pick it back up.

Soon, you found you were gasping for breath, tears stinging in your eyes as you struggled to get oxygen in your lungs. You choked on the same air that you tried to breath in, but you kept on going, your heart working into over-drive to accommodate for the absolute, pure _terror_ that found itself in your mind.

Staggering to your feet, you raised yourself on wobbly legs and headed for the door. You needed to get out of here, out of this constricting cabin, to breath fresh air, you needed-

 _I need Chiron,_ you thought with a strangled gasp.

Not bothering with shoes or to put on something other than your pajamas, you stumbled across the camp toward the Big House, where he would surely be. And hopefully not Mr. D.

The harpies paid you no mind as you passed right by them, since you had been given special permission to walk around at night, ever since Chiron found out about your nightmares.

You nearly wept with joy at seeing the door to the Big House, rapping on it weakly yet loudly with one loose fist. Only a few seconds later did the centaur open the door, appearing very tired and slightly annoyed. "What is it, child-" he started, but cut himself short when he saw you. His eyes widened, and all sleepiness was replaced with extreme worry. "Come inside, (Y/N)."

You stumbled into his office, collapsing on a chair and immediately curling into a tight ball, forcing yourself to take deep breaths. _In and out, (Y/N), that's it, in and out._

Soon, you felt a soft hand on your shoulder as Chiron gently knelt in front of you. He didn't say anything, instead allowing you a moment to catch some much-needed breath, which you could proudly say you were able to breath now that you were in such a warm, homey place.

Your trembling didn't die down though, as you relaxed slightly into the chair, finally finding the courage to actually raise you head and look Chiron in the eyes. He was looking at you with such a kind and worried look, that you just wanted to hug him and tell him all your problems. Fortunately, you refrained from doing so.

"I'm sorry," you managed to choke out. "For barging in."

He shook his head dismissively. "That doesn't matter. What matters is you right now." He paused, probably thinking of something to say other than 'Are you okay', because you obviously weren't. He ended up going with a simple, yet warm, love-filled statement. "You don't need to avoid the topic, (Y/N). You know I care about you. You can talk. I will listen."

That was all in took for you to start stammering out everything that's happened the past couple days. You talked about not sleeping for 3 nights, being too afraid to do so. How you've never once in your life had a peaceful sleep. Even when unconscious. How for once you wanted to just feel _rested,_ not tired, not ready to drop at any given notice. How this night, you had the worst nightmare ever.

You rushed quickly through the spiders, the thought of that nightmare making you shudder and nearly sending you into a flashback. But when you stopped talking and your eyes glazed over, Chiron was there to pull you back into reality with a hand on your shoulder and softly-spoken words.

You didn't spend much time on the drowning either, but you couldn't help releasing a few details. "I could feel the water rushing into my lungs, Chiron," you whimpered. "It was all so real, I couldn't tell whether or not I was dreaming."

The hand on your shoulder tensed angrily for a second, before relaxing once more. "It is over with now, (Y/N), you need not worry about it anymore. You are no longer dreaming. You are here, talking with me," Chiron consoled you gently.

You nodded and swallowed, stomach growing sicker at how you would have to talk about the final nightmare. The worst one. "The final nightmare, the one th-that woke me up, i-i-it was- I just- I couldn't-" You weren't able to finish the sentence, voice getting shakier with with each word, until your head dropped against your chest and your shoulders shook with silent sobs.

In no time, you were pulled into a hug by Chiron, feeling a hand rubbing soothing circles on your back and the other holding you tight. You reacted by reaching around and hugging him back, desperate to touch something, _anything_ that would ground you to reality. Chiron was real. And nice.

You forced yourself to choke out your last words while in this position, knowing that if you didn't do it now you would never do it. "I-I dreamt about-about Tartarus. I was in there. H-He was there, t-too." You whimpered and squeezed your arms tighter, him doing the same. It was reassuring. "I-I was so scared, I couldn't breath, it was the worst I've ever had, and it was just _so scary_ -"

You cut off at the end once more, not being able to continue. Your figure was trembling worse than before. But you would not cry again. You refused to allow yourself to cry. _You would not cry-_

"Shhh, child," Chiron murmured. "There's no weakness in crying. It's a sign you've been strong for too long."

You burst into loud sobs, body wracking with the force of them, each one with a painful, terrifying story of it's own. You let go of all your pent-up emotions and thoughts, feeling them fly away finally after telling someone. Telling someone you trusted.

"I- I don't want to be scared anymore," you cried, feeling like a little child, but strangely not caring.

"And you will no longer have to be. It will get better, (Y/N). I will help you," Chiron said.

That brought about a fresh round of tears, but now, they were more from relief than anything. You had finally found someone who cared for you, enough to want to share your burdens, and truly want to help you. After all these years of suffering and sitting silently in fear, _finally,_ you found them.

It took a while for you to calm down enough to breath without shaking. But you and Chiron didn't let go of each other. You didn't want to let go. You felt safer than you ever had, safer than even with your own father. You stayed with your arms around Chiron's neck, face buried into his shoulder.

By now, you were sleepy. You knew you were going to pass out from exhaustion, but for the first time, you weren't afraid to fall asleep. You knew Chiron would be there to help you. And from that tiredness, three single words slipped out of your mouth.

"I love you," you whispered, already half-asleep. The conscious part of your mind started to panic- what if he didn't understand how you saw him as your father? What if he rejected you? What if-

But Chiron didn't freeze. He calmly continued to run his fingers through your hair, a comforting gesture you appreciated. "And I, you, (Y/N)," he said.

You both stayed in that position, Chiron not moving once as to not wake you. And you, you had the best sleep you've ever had. For the first time, you didn't dream a single thing.


	2. Leo Valdez

Being a child of Achlys, goddess of misery and sadness, you were basically destined to have a sucky life. You cried constantly, always felt miserable, and when something good happened, you couldn't even conjure a smile. Your cheeks were forever tear-stained, knees bloody and swollen from collapsing on the ground, and you were very emaciated.

All in all, a life no one wants, and no one wants to hang out with. _Thanks, mom._

This morning was no different. You were on your bed, sobbing your heart out, but no one could hear you since you were alone in the dark, dusty cabin. You were the only child of Achlys, after all. Plus, nobody wanted you in their cabin, which was another reason to be depressed. Yay.

"Why me?!" you cried, pounding your fists on the bed. "Why?!"

To be honest, you didn't really know why you were crying. All you had felt upon waking was a deep, undecipherable sadness, and you promptly burst into tears. Again. For the thousandth time.

Sighing internally, you thought, _Well, I'll be here for a while._

And an hour later, you were still sobbing, not having slowed down once. Actually, the only reason you felt like you were calming down now was because you couldn't _goddamn breath._

You gasped for breath, trying to suck in air between each sob. Eyes wide, mouth gaping open, and fists clenched into your bed sheets, you must have looked downright insane. Or at least traumatized.

 _Heh, I'm sort of right about that last part,_ you thought with bitter amusement.

You finally managed to get a hold of yourself, gulping down the fresh air you so desperately needed. It seemed that each 'episode' only ended once you were on the verge of passing out from lack of oxygen. How peachy.

Exhausted, you collapsed limply on your bed, breathing normally and muscles totally lax. Sometimes, you thought that this was more tiring than training. You could barely move. Your lungs were still trying to calm down, as well as your pounding heart. It made you basically paralyzed for a few minutes after.

Groaning, you pushed yourself up on shaky arms, ignoring how your eyes started to water once more. _Argh, please don't cry again, please don't cry, please don't cry._ You slowly dressed yourself, attempted to tame your long, messy hair (and failing), and walked out of your cabin toward the breakfast table. Hopefully there was still time to eat.

You could feel the burning gazes of everyone on you like a hot iron. They were looking at you, like they always did. You no longer felt humiliated, instead having learned to simply ignore how they whispered about the 'weak, emotional baby' who 'never stopped crying' and the people who looked at you with pity. Jerks.

Keeping your eyes forward, you walked slowly to the dining pavilion, plopping yourself down in a chair. You ate quickly, and left. It was just routine now. You didn't even notice it when your food was gone until your fork hit empty space.

 _Now, what to do?_ You looked around the camp, seeing all the different activities the camp had to offer, but dismissed them all. You could feel another attack coming on- it was best to just stay away.

You ran to the forest, furiously scrubbing at your eyes to prevent the oncoming flood of tears. You tried so hard, so _hard_ to suppress the feeling of sorrow that grew in your chest once more, but after the first sob escaped your lips, everything came crashing down.

All of a sudden, you found your legs wouldn't hold you up. They buckled underneath you, leaving you to collapse harshly onto the muddy, dirt ground. Your face slid a few inches, probably leaving a large streak of mud on your cheek, until you came to a stop right in front of a large rock. You curled up in a ball immediately, sobbing into your arms and begging for somebody to help.

Nobody came.

 _At least I didn't kill myself, right?_ you thought desperately, trying to find the good in the situation. But being the daughter of the goddess of sadness, it was nearly impossible to find the good in a _good_ situation.

Once again, this crying session lasted until you couldn't breath, but unlike last time, you started to hallucinate. Your sight was blurry, and what was weird was that you actually thought you saw the figure of someone. You had to be hallucinating, right?

"Please," you murmured, not caring if the person was a figment of your imagination. You desperately wanted somebody to care. "Help."

(~)

Leo hummed cheerfully in Bunker Nine, happily building a new machine that should make washing dishes a bit easier for the campers. Of course, Dionysus would most likely throw the thing away, but whatever! The fun came in making the thing!

"Bahhh-da-da-daaaaa! Bahhh-da-daaaaa. Bahhh-da-da-DAAAAA! Bah-da-daaa-da-DA!" He was humming this absolutely AWESOME song from Indiana Jones; Raiders March! Of course, it was probably indistinguishable to anybody who didn't know the song, and any child of Apollo would be covering their ears by now, but Leo lived by the motto of 'whatever'!

His singing quieted down a bit as he tried to string a wire through a really, really tiny hole. His tongue stuck out in concentration, and he was so 'in the zone', that he almost didn't hear it before it stopped.

 _Crying_.

Leo's hands froze in mid-air, ears listening for the sound again. He went completely still, which was unusual for him. After a few seconds of just standing there, he frowned and supposed he had imagined it, shrugging his shoulders dismissively. He almost started working again, but then, once more, the crying rang out.

His tools clattered to the floor as he jumped up and ran out of his workplace, feeling the cool forest air hit him the moment he stepped outside. As well as the crying, which made him jump to the side in surprise, since it was _right next to him_.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, bouncing away. There was... a girl. Crying. In front of Bunker 9.

 _Ummm, what?_

This was... confusing. What was a girl doing at his workplace? Crying, of all things? He realized, however, that he should probably bring her in before some monsters got to her or she passed out.

He grunted from the effort of carrying her, picking her up and setting her down on a couch inside. Sure, she was light, but Leo was in no way build to carry people around. His arms were meant for hammering, not lugging around girls!

As for now, it would be a good idea to figure out what to do with the sobbing girl on his couch. He scratched his head, watching as she curled back up on her side, still wailing and crying. Gods, he should do something! Now! _Think Leo, think! How do you stop girls from crying? Argh, this isn't your area of knowledge._

And since he had no idea what the heck to do, he went with the only thing that he's done all his life; make people laugh.

Leo knelt gently down next to the girl, not touching he in case she freaked out or something. "Hey," he said softly, "What's going on? Are you okay?"

She didn't answer, but her eyes did flick up to meet his, widen for a second, and close tightly shut.

He allowed a grin to take over his features. "Hey now, don't look away! I know I'm not the prettiest sight and all, but nobody can resist Leo Valdez, the Super-sized McShizzle!" He flexed his arm "muscles" in another effort to calm the girl down.

She lifted her head at that, looking quite confused. It almost made him laugh himself; the pinched eyebrows, small frown, and still shaking form. "Um, wh-what?" she sniffled, rubbing her eyes. Yes, the cries were dying down! Success!

Leo chuckled at her bewildered question. "Hi, I'm Leo Valdez, child of Hephaestus!" He full-on grinned in what he hoped was a friendly way. Either that or he looked downright crazy.

"H-hi, I'm (Y/N), daughter of Achlys."

"Right, Achyls. God of..."

"Goddess of sadness and misery. I'm surprised you don't know me. Everybody in camp knows of the girl who is constantly crying," she replied in a flat, emotionless tone. Well, at least she stopped crying...?

Leo winced sympathetically when she said what her mom was the goddess of. _Yikes, sadness and misery?_ he thought. _That must be why she was crying._ He knew that godly parents often passed down attributes to their children (like how Clovis is constantly sleeping, godly parent being Hypnos), and she probably just got a bad deal. Really bad deal.

He threw up another smile and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I'm usually in the Bunker nowadays, so I don't really hear about new campers and such. Sorry."

(Y/N) shook her head rapidly. "No, no! It's, erm, nice having someone that doesn't know who I am..." She trailed off at the end, clearly embarrassed. Her cheeks were a bright red.

Leo pouted playfully. "Aw man, so you're saying we can't get to know each other? That sucks." A grin threatened to overtake his features, this one very real when her head shot up and she hurried to correct him.

"That's not what I said! We can be friends-" Her eyes went wide. "Erm, I mean, uh, get to know each other..."

He laughed at her flustered expression. Wow, this girl was just too adorable! "I agree! Let's be friends!"

She paused, stilling at his exclamation. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah!"

She glanced down shyly at her lap. "I've never had a friend before."

That made Leo stop for a second. His smile fell from his face, and luckily (Y/N) wasn't looking. He swallowed to sooth his now dry throat. He really couldn't believe that she hadn't had a friend before. They lived in a camp full of people like them! Did-did none of the campers try to talk to her? Was she really that... strange?

But he quickly got over his shock, grinning once more. "Well then, I'll be your first!"

Her eyes flitted up to him, and although she didn't smile, Leo knew she was grateful. Her red, swollen eyes betrayed her stone face. "I think I'd like that."

(~)

From that point forward, you visited Leo in the Bunker every day. He didn't seem to care that you would burst in, crying your heart out, and he would stop what he was doing to try to calm you down. He would drop whatever was in his hands at the moment, guide you to his couch, and just hug you. Hug you, rub your back, whisper soothing things to you, and especially try to make you laugh. It worked a few times, but you greatly appreciated the effort Leo was putting into calming you down.

After a session, you would hang out with Leo all day, since, well, you didn't really have a camp schedule like everybody else. Chiron had allowed you to do whatever you want. So, you stayed in the Bunker, talking, helping Leo as he built stuff, and generally just feeling a lot better than you normally do. In fact, you could have sworn you weren't crying as much lately.

It was a strange feeling, having a friend. You've never had someone like him. Not even your own father. Nobody even ever talked to you, and yet here was this strange, new person, willing to do everything he can to just stop your crying. It made you want to cry all over again at the thought of finally having someone who _cares._ But these were tears of happiness, not sadness.

It was just another day when you ran into Bunker 9 and threw yourself into Leo's arms. Like always, he immediately hugged you back and gently guided the two of you to a couch. Had this not happened millions of times before, you would be a bit embarrassed from getting tears on his shirt. But you were so comfortable with him now, that you were actually willing to tell him what made you cry. Usually, it was no reason, but today...

"Leo!" you wailed, gripping his shirt and burying your face into his chest.

"Shh, (Y/N), c'mere," he murmured.

You and him stayed hugging in that position until the end of your crying session came. As always, you couldn't breath, and you felt really bad when Leo got that panicked look in his eye since he couldn't do anything to help.

Eventually, though, you and him were just sitting on the couch, you sniffling and wiping your eyes and Leo rubbing circles on your back. It was relaxing.

"Th-they called me worthless," you whimpered. 'They' being some of the Ares and Hermes kids. Same ones and same insults as always, but they never stopped hurting.

"They said that I don't belong here; th-that camp is for demigods, strong warriors, not babies who can't stop crying. They told me that nobody loves me, will ever love me, not even my own parents." Your shoulders started to shake involuntarily, as your voice dropped to a whisper. "They said that you're wasting your time helping me every day. That I'm keeping you from working." You looked up at Leo, chest full of pain at the thought that he did this because he felt bad for you. "I-Is this true? I'm s-so sorry Leo."

Leo didn't answer for a long time. His head was down, not allowing you to see his eyes. You watched his hands clench into fists and mouth set in a snarl. He still didn't answer.

You grew more and more hopeless as the seconds ticked by. _He doesn't want you,_ a voice in her head whispered. _He just pities you. That's all._

 _Shut up,_ you thought, but it was very weak. You knew those voices were right.

Crestfallen, you stood up roughly, causing Leo to look up in surprise at you. "I understand," you said quietly, sounding more like a whimper. "I will go now."

You went to take a step to the exit, but were stopped short by a hand gripping your wrist. You gasped in surprise and twisted around to look at him. What you saw made you reel back in shock.

Leo was... he wasn't crying, but there were _tears in his eyes._ Leo. The 'Super-sized McShizzle' 'bad boy supreme'. It just wasn't like him to show any emotion besides happiness and mischievousness. But right now, he was looking at you painfully, as though you had just caused him the worst pain ever imaginable.

He grabbed your hands in his, squeezing them tightly. "(Y/N)," he said quietly, but you could here the sadness and rage in the undertone of his voice. It scared you. "Don't you _ever_ think that I'm wasting my time on you. I could never." His voice was filled with such certainty that it sent you reeling in shock once more, but he put his hands on your shoulders to steady you. You stared wide-eyed at him, not wanting to believe what you thought he was saying.

"You're one of my best friends. Even when you've got your own problems going on, you still find time to just talk to me, to join me working, even to just listen to me spout random stuff you probably don't understand. And you try _so hard_ to end every 'session' or prevent yourself from starting up again. I can see it in you. You may not be strong in the physical sense, but mentally, you're probably the strongest out of all of us. You're not worthless. You belong here. You don't waste my time at all; you make it worthwhile."

During that whole speech, you had stayed wide-eyed and gaping at Leo. You wanted to say thank you a million times over, but it appeared he was not finished. _Just what more could he possibly say?_

His tone suddenly dropped the anger and sadness behind it, instead taking on a new one, one that you didn't recognize. There was so much warmth and _caring_ in it, it alone could have sent you bursting into happy tears.

"As for nobody loving you... that is not true whatsoever. Nope. I don't care if you disagree with me, I know for a fact there is at least one person who loves you and your company."

Your mouth went dry. "Chiron doesn't count," you mumbled halfheartedly.

"I don't mean Chiron," he stated matter-of-factly. "I mean me."

You didn't really get it at first, but then it suddenly hit you like a shield to the face. You trembled, wanting so bad for him to be telling the truth. "You- you mean- that _you-_ "

"I love you, (Y/N)."

All was silent for the few seconds it took you to digest this. You desperately scanned Leo's eyes for the truth, and the raw emotion you saw was all you needed to believe.

Sobbing tears of joy, you threw yourself into Leo's arms, crying "Thank you" over and over again. You felt his arms immediately curl themselves around you protectively, holding you close to his chest as you both regained the position you generally find yourselves in. However, this time, it was unmistakably a loving embrace. You could feel it so strongly, something which had been foreign to you until now.

When you felt well enough to speak without choking on your tears, you murmured in Leo's ear, hoping he'd feel the sentiment behind your words, "I love you too. You have no idea how much you've helped these past few months. With you, I smiled. I even laughed. I've never laughed before I met you. I didn't know how to smile. You helped me, Leo. And now I know; I love you."

You held each other tighter. For a few seconds, all was peaceful. But of course, nothing is ever peaceful with Leo Valdez around.

You could feel Leo smile at your words, and he let out a mischievous chuckle. You looked up at him warily. "Don't tell me you're planning something."

He just grinned down at you cheekily. "Who, me? Never."

"Suuuuure." You stretched out the word, feeling the corners of your mouth curl up at him.

He sighed defeatedly. "You're right. I was just thinking how now I can do... THIS!"

Leo tackled you onto the couch, tickling you to the ends of Tartarus. You started giggling the second his fingers grazed your stomach, which surprised both you and him. He let out a groan. "So, all this time, I could have just tickled you?!" he cried out exasperatedly.

You shrugged, smiling more than you ever have. "I suppose," you replied innocently.

His grin turned evil as he attacked you once more, the Bunker being filled with the sounds of your and his laughter. Leo finally allowed some mercy, since his hands dropped to his sides and he squeezed next to you on the small couch.

Gasping, you sucked in as much air as you could, relieved that the assault was over. You both lay quietly, gazing up at the ceiling with a goofy grin on Leo's face and a carefree one on yours. Finally, after all these years of scorn and bullying, you found someone. Someone who cared for you, who helped you, who _loved_ you. It was more than you ever would have dreamt, and yet the gods decided to answer your unspoken wishes.

You broke the silence, whispering quietly, "I love you, Leo. Thank you."

He turned his head to look at you, eyes and smile full of fondness and warmth. "I love you too, (Y/N). I'm glad I realised it."

And there you lay together, in blissful silence that was only broken when Leo shoved you off the bed.

"Hey!"


	3. Jason Grace

You grumbled and cursed under your breath as you trudged through a thick, murky swamp. Each footstep sunk deep into wet mud, completely wrecking your shoes, and the green water went up to your waist, feeling quite uncomfortable as it soaked you to the bone. Flies and mosquitoes buzzed around your head, while the air stank with decaying animal waste and rotten corpses.

This was _not_ what you had imagined when Chiron sent you on a quest to reclaim the Sword of Peleus.

You hissed and cursed Chiron's name once more when your foot stepped into a particularly deep hole and you sunk up to your armpits. "Oh for the love of Zeus!" you groaned angrily, lifting your foot and releasing it with a sucking sound.

"You sure you don't want me to carry you?" came a voice from above.

Jason Grace, the blond superman, was flying above you, avoiding having to go in the swamp himself. In his hands was Blair; a preppy, stuck-up daughter of Aphrodite. She had refused to go in the swamp, even though you were on a strict time-limit, and so Jason had been forced to carry her. But, knowing him, he would have volunteered to carry one of you anyway, being the gentleman he is.

However, before you could answer, a shriek interrupted you and you glanced up, annoyed, at Blair. "No! If you carry her, then you can't carry me, and I will _not_ go in that filthy swamp!"

"The filthy swamp that I'm in?" you muttered.

Her personality changed in an instant as she fluttered her eyelashes and smiled at Jason, working her Aphrodite charm. It made you want to gag. "So, please, Jason? Don't drop me, pretty boy. You need me on this quest, after all," she said sweetly. His face went red at 'pretty boy'.

Your tongue made a 'tch' noise at that, but unfortunately, it was true. The man you were getting the sword from was an excellent fighter, according to Chiron. Much better than you or Jason could ever hope to be, even with the both of you versus him. He'd had thousands of years of practice, whereas you and Jason had less than 10 years. Plus he had the Sword of Peleus, which grants the user victory in battle. So, your only chance to fight him and win would be to have Blair on the sidelines, confusing him with charmspeak.

But if only she would _shut up_ now...

As for you, well, you were here because snagging things from people without them noticing was your specialty. You were small, quick, and silent, like a fox preying on a rabbit. Of course, being a child of Hermes, you _had_ to use these qualities to your advantage and play the best pranks. The Stoll brothers and you together were unstoppable.

However, Jason was here for a completely random reason. His role could have been played by anybody, but he was at the camp that day to visit Leo and others, so he volunteered and argued that he had one of the best fighting skills in the camp, which was true. Especially since there were only about 30 people at the camp, considering it was the school year.

Jason kept looking down at you with concern, so you waved your hand dismissively to say you're fine. "Whatever, I've been in worse situations than this." You then smirked slyly, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Say, Blair, did I ever tell you about the time I used the dung from the horse stables to-"

She shrieked again, looking down at you in horror. "Not another word, creep!" Her face was slightly green.

You just grinned and continued on through the slush, feeling a bit better now that you managed to make Bratty Blair sick. She was just so annoying, you wanted Jason to drop her in the swamp and fly away. Now _that_ would be a sight to pay for.

That feeling of pride quickly disappeared, though, and by the time you reached a small hut in a clearing, you were downright _pissed_. The smell alone would take _weeks_ to get out, that is, if you bothered to keep the filthy, soaked clothes. So it technically wasn't your fault when Blair gagged at the sight of you then shrieked when you flicked a piece of slime at her face.

It was totally worth it, though. Even when Jason looked at you disapprovingly. You just smirked at him.

But, strangely, a heavy feeling appeared in in the pit of your stomach at this look of his. It made you sick, like you wanted to vomit. You just barely managed to conceal your surprise at this. Why on earth were you ashamed? Not once, not even when Chiron reprimanded you for replacing the Aphrodite girls' makeup with paint, have you felt shame at a harmless prank. And Jason only looked at you!

You shook it off as the effect of being pissed off. Somehow, you convinced yourself that made sense, even though it had never happened before. As for now, you needed to concentrate on the quest.

Jason landed in the grass, setting Blair down gently. She immediately hugged him and kissed his cheek, and, you observed in disgust, made sure to press her breasts tightly against his chest. A bitter feeling appeared as you watched Jason's face heat up.

 _Wait._ You shook your head again, harder this time. Were you jealous? No, that was impossible. It's not like you _liked_ him or anything... you barely knew him. He often switched between the camps anyway, and when he was at CHB, you only had a sword and skill session twice a week with him. Not enough to develop feelings.

Right?

You stalked after Jason, your face set in a scowl. He and Blair were already hidden in the tall grass that surrounded the hut. You hurried your pace and crouched down next to them. "So, what's the plan?" you asked.

Jason frowned, observing the shelter. "The hut looks small, too small for any fighting to happen inside. We need to lure him outside first, but that's a matter of how."

You sighed at his words, knowing exactly what you would have to do now. It was always you, anyway. You were the fastest and the smallest. You weren't as important as the other two right now. You were replaceable. "So, what you're saying is that you need me to be the bait."

His eyes went wide at your suggestion. "What? No- not _you_ specifically-"

He was cut off by Blair. "How nice of you to offer, sweetie! It would be a _perfect_ plan if you went in alone and baited the guy out here." You glared at her bright smile but made no move to defend yourself. It wasn't like she could do it, and Jason was needed to fight.

You ground your teeth together then forced a smile on your face. "Whatever. I'll be going now. If I'm not back in 10 minutes, something probably happened." You could see Jason trying to grab your arm, but you walked right past him, paying him no attention.

As you jogged cautiously toward the shelter, you tried to ignore the thoughts that told you you had just been quite rude to Jason by brushing him off like that. You yourself didn't really understand why you did it. Maybe a part of you wanted to prove something, that you could be useful, and you didn't want Jason stopping you.

Or maybe not. Since when have you ever wanted to prove yourself to someone?

All of a sudden, the door was right in front of you. You raised your eyes from where they had been staring at the ground. The door, like the rest of the house, was made of rotten, decaying wood that smelled like moldy bread. It creaked open with a tiny push.

This was where you started to use your Hermes skills to good use. You became as silent and stealthy as a fox, slinking deep into the shadows where you'd be nearly invisible. Your previously bored eyes scanned your surroundings while your ears listened for the sound of footsteps or the sign of inhabitants.

The inside didn't seem much different from the outside. It looked like an tiny abandoned hunting cabin; why anybody would have a hunting cabin in a swamp was beyond you. There was a wooden rectangular table in the middle of the room with two chairs on opposite sides. A bookshelf stood against the left wall and directly across it was a shut door. A series of hooks lined the wall across from you, most likely to hang the guns from. Next to the hooks was a screen door which was swinging open like someone had pushed it...

Your eyes went wide. _He knows we're here! He went out to find us!_

This was _not_ part of the plan at all. Your heart started to beat faster in panic; your only job was supposed to be luring him out and stealing the sword. You'd never tried to save people who didn't know they were getting ambushed.

You took a deep breath to calm yourself down. Panicking would do you no good. Besides, you didn't panic when your pranks went wrong. That was all this was- a prank gone wrong. Your victim wasn't where you thought they were. You needed to retract and form a new plan. If you reacted to it like this, it wouldn't be as bad.

Still, you couldn't keep your hand from trembling as you reached to pull out your sword and held it tightly in your hand.

You breathed in deeply once more and exited through the swinging door where the man had left from. He had left a path of footprints in the wet mud for you to follow. At least you had the element of surprise on your side. He didn't know that one of you had scouted ahead into the house.

Well, hopefully he didn't.

Following along the side of the house, you peered around to see if Jason and Blair were still hiding behind the thick bushes. Then you nearly smacked yourself. _Idiot!_ you thought. _The purpose of hiding is so that no one can see you!_

You shook your head. Obviously you weren't thinking properly if something as stupid as that was actually considered. You really needed to think of this as a prank- you're a Hermes kid! You're known for your pranks! Once you get your mojo back, the guy won't know what hit him.

Smirking, you now felt much more like yourself. You needed to think of a new plan- quickly. _Fighting is out of the question if he has the Sword of Peleus. Failure is guaranteed, no matter how well I can fight. No way I can sneak up and knock him out- I haven't even gotten a good look at the guy!_ Your could feel your smirk growing wider at what was left. _Looks like it'll be up to trickery to defeat him._

Unfortunately, you didn't have any of your usual supplies with you- no glue, feathers, not even hot peppers! You'd have to make do with what you could find in the house.

Running back into the house, your eyes quickly scanned the house like earlier; except this time you weren't looking for your enemy. There was a thin, long rope hanging from one of the hooks that you didn't notice before. A couple rotten oranges lay on the table. You took both the rope and a couple oranges, stuffing them in your pockets. Next was the shut door. Opening it easily, you peered inside to find... some pretty strange things.

 _What kind of hunters came here?_ you thought, bewildered, as you searched through the seemingly random items. On the floor was a plastic bucket. When you lifted the lid, you saw it was filled with dirt and wriggling worms. A whistle hung from a hook on the side. Playing cards were thrown all over. Some thick elastic bands were on a shelf along with three water bottles and a pair of goggles. You grabbed everything in there except the cards and water and laid them out on the table. _Perfect._

Before you could give yourself a pat on the back, a sudden loud scream echoed from outside the hut. _Blair._ "Leave her alone!" Jason shouted, and the sound of metal clanging against metal emerged.

 _Shoot_. You needed to work quickly. Jason wouldn't last long against him, no matter how good he is. Time to create your prank.

You looped the end of the rope tightly around the bottom of the bucket, making sure it wouldn't slide off when it was turned upside down. The whistle was hung around your neck and held between your teeth. You snapped an elastic band in half, and once you found a 'Y' shaped thick stick outside, you tied both ends to the part on top. A slingshot. Finally, you secured the goggles around your eyes, for no reason, really. It just seemed fun at the moment.

Now that you had all your supplies, you just needed to set it up without getting seen. Maybe Jason could-

"Argh!" someone shouted, and a cackle erupted from another. Grunts followed that, and you risked a look to see Jason and Blair tied up with rope around their chests, backs together. Blair had a gag around her mouth. Jason's sword lay a few feet away from him. The man was standing in front of them, but his back was to you. All you could see was that he had shoulder length, dirty blond hair (like, it was actually filthy) and was wearing a brown trench cloak with black pants.

You felt your face pale drastically. Gathering all the items in your arms, you ran around the back like last time, checking around the corner to see where the man was. His front was facing Jason and Blair, but you needed him out of there right now for your plan to work.

You sprinted silently to the nearest bush and ducked behind. Aiming carefully, you rested one orange on the elastic, pulled it back, and let it rip. The second it was out of your hands, you were sprinting to a cluster of bushes farther away and ducking behind them.

The man span around as the orange hit him smack on the back. His eyes narrowed and you felt your breathing growing quicker. You watched him walk suspiciously at where you had been. Hopefully he hadn't heard you run over here.

Using the little time you had, you got Jason's attention. "Pssst!" you hissed. Jason head whipped towards you. His eyes widened when they rested on your face. "(Y/N)!" he whispered. "You've got to get out of here-"

"I've got a plan, don't worry," you interrupted him. "But I need to act quick. Hold this rope tightly. I'll tell you when to let go." You handed him the loose end to the rope attached to the bucket. You glanced quickly behind you, seeing that the man still hadn't reached the area. He wasn't taking any chances, it seemed.

As quick as a monkey, you climbed up a tree that had the perfect branch for your prank. "Release!" you hissed. You felt the rope suddenly become that much heavier. You pulled up the end of it and tied it to the trunk of the tree, making sure there was a lot of slack so that the bucket could still topple over. The bucket balanced precariously on the branch, and you hoped it wouldn't fall.

You jumped down from the tree quietly and sprinted to your previous hiding spot where the rest of your supplies were. Good thing, too, because the man was just starting to come back. Your heart was hammering with the intensity of the situation. You swallowed and waited until the man was standing back where he was before.

Like before, you ran from bush to bush, tree to tree until you reached the house again. But you didn't go inside. This time, you _needed_ to be seen. Not that you really wanted to. You arms were shaking so hard as you raised the slingshot toward the man, but somehow it hit him on the shoulder.

He whirled around, eyes wild until they rested on you. His black eyes stared right at you and his mouth set into a snarl. "You!" he growled.

Despite your insides wanting to crawl out your throat, you grinned and gave him a wave. "Hi there!" you said cheerfully as you hit him with another orange. He could have dodged it, but he seemed too shocked that someone was throwing oranges at him to process the action.

You could see that your distraction was working- he wasn't noticing how Jason was untying himself and Blair as quickly as he could.

He came to his senses a second later and stepped aside when the next orange shot toward him. "Stop, you silly girl! I am Arsenios; nobody dares throw fruit at me! I now possess the Sword of Peleus! Fear me, child!"

You simply raised your eyebrows, hoping he wouldn't see how badly you were trembling in fear. The guy was scary all right; he had this aura of bloodshed and destruction that made you want to run far away. However you knew you couldn't. So you launched another orange at him.

It went a mile wide. He threw his head back and laughed. "Ha! You missed!"

You smirked. "Actually, I didn't." Arsenios furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. The orange soared through the air and hit the branch the bucket was balancing on. The force of the hit caused the bucket to fall forward and snap the lid off, making all the dirt and worms fall all. Over. Him.

That was when everything went crazy. Arsenios shrieked at the sensation of having worms crawl all over him. Jason finally got the knots undone and the gag out of Blair's mouth. Blair charmspoke the man to throw the Sword over to you, which you picked up gingerly and held it tightly in your hands. Jason then pounced and wrestle a bit with Arsenios, but it was a battle already lost for the man, what with his shock and Blair's charmspeak. He was tied up immediately.

Arsenios glowered the three of you as he thrashed around, trying to undo the knots. When that didn't work, his gaze switched over to the Sword in your hands. He snarled. "That sword was supposed to give me victory in battle!" he howled furiously.

You smirked, one hand on your hip, as you stalked toward him. "Yeah, but buddy, this wasn't a battle; this was the ultimate prank." And then you ended his whining with a sharp hit to the head.

You turned back to Jason and Blair, smiling. "Well, we did it guys! Go team, and all that." You frowned and looked back at the now unconscious man. "So, what do we do with him?"

When they didn't answer for a few seconds, you turned back to them. They were staring open-mouthed at you. You chuckled uncomfortably and shifted your weight from one foot to the other. "Um, guys? Everything okay?" Blair immediately started looking at her nails nonchalantly.

Jason snapped out of it a second later. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"Well, I punched him in the head and-"

He cut you off. "No, not that. The- the thing with the bucket and the oranges." He looked genuinely confused and shocked.

"Ah, that." You struggled to put what you did into words. You'd never described your pranks before, and this one was thought up on a huge adrenaline rush. "Well, I found the stuff in the cabin, and, erm, you saw me put the bucket in the tree, and I shot the guy with oranges. I didn't actually do much."

You just realised how childish you sounded. _I mean, really, (Y/N)? You shot the guys with oranges? You're a freaking demigod- you're supposed to fight and stuff. Not play pranks._

You felt your face heat up in embarrassment and you looked everywhere except Jason's face. Which, unfortunately, meant you ended up meeting Blair's gaze.

Her rosy lips were smirking cruelly and her eyes held a confident look in them. She knew that whatever she was about to say would embarrass you even further. Normally, you wouldn't get embarrassed, but for whatever reason, the fact that Jason was here changed things completely. You wanted him to think that you were a strong demigod and could hold your own in a fight, not a prankster that was good for no more than getting laughs.

Your shoulders slouched forward when Blair opened her mouth. "Honey, you can't be thinking that this demigod life is a game you play for fun. You can't always defeat the bad guys with your silly pranks," She was speaking to you like you were a child, you noted with disgust, "and one day you'll probably get someone hurt. So I'll do you a favor and be the one to tell you that you need to grow up and-"

"That is _enough."_

Your gaze snapped over to Jason, who was glaring at Blair. You were wide-eyed, shocked that he had even decided to say something, let alone defend you. You had thought he would agree, telling you (albeit in a kinder way) to get some maturity.

His face softened as he looked at you, but for what reason you didn't know. You felt your heart rate speeding up with every second. "(Y/N), I think your plan was brilliant. The guy never would have guessed what was happening since he was expecting an attack. We never would have beat him in a fight. And if he had gotten the Sword, who knows who he would give it to. You pretty much saved us and the camp."

You couldn't do anything except stare at him in shock and stammer out a few words. "I, uh, thanks?"

Jason smiled at you warmly. "No problem. I'll Iris Message some campers to pick up this guy, then we can leave." He glanced at Blair, who had a furious expression on her face. "And this time, I'll carry you back."

"What?!" Blair shrieked and stamped her foot. "There is _no way_ I am walking through that swamp! I'm not a filthy, immature girl like (Y/N)! I deserve to be treated-"

You looked back at Jason and rolled your eyes, ignoring Blair as she continued her temper tantrum. "Can we ditch her as soon as they come?"

He looked like he wanted to protest, but then he must have remembered something, because he smirked and replied with, "Gladly."

"Good. And, um," Your cheeks heated up with the thought of what you wanted to say. "Thanks for sticking up for me. I didn't think you would. I thought you would've agreed with her, so... thanks." You looked down at the ground, fiddling with your fingers. You were sort of hoping that he would just say 'you're welcome' again and leave it be, so you were definitely _not_ expecting what happened next.

He put two fingers under your chin and tilted your head up so your eyes met. His were soft and caring, while you knew yours were just barely concealing panic. Your heart was trying to pound itself out of your rib cage and your mouth went dry. You gazed at each other for who knows how long until Jason opened his mouth.

"(Y/N), she was wrong. You don't need to 'grow up' and nobody thinks you do. We demigods grow up too fast, anyways. I think you're amazing as who you are right now. Don't listen to Blair. She's just jealous that I like you rather than her." Jason's face suddenly went as red as a firetruck, mirroring your own as you both processed what he had accidentally said. "Uh- I mean- That is- Um-" he stammered, not knowing what to say.

You were also at a loss for words. Had he just-? Did he actually-? Did he just say that he _liked_ you? As in, "You mean," You swallowed. "You _like_ like me?"

With every passing second that he didn't answer, your hands grew sweatier and your heart beat faster, waiting for what he would say. You didn't realize until now how badly you wanted him to like you in that way. You didn't realize that _you_ liked him in that way!

You stopped breathing when he moved a hand to rub the back of his neck and he chuckled sheepishly. "I do, yeah. I didn't really know that that's what I was feeling, but now that I've said it... it sounds _right_." He raised an eyebrow, yet looked nervous. "And from your face, I guess you feel the same?"

You were still staring opened-mouthed at him, which you promptly snapped shut and awkwardly chuckled back. "I... I think so. I think I like you too." You rubbed your arm and that's when you noticed that you were still super gross from the earlier swamp bath. You took a step backward so that none of the slime would get on Jason. "But... maybe before we do anything else, I should probably take a bath. A real one this time, not a mud bath."

To your surprise, Jason laughed out loud. His laughter caused your own to start, and before long, the two of you were in tears. Jason was clutching his stomach and you had clapped a hand over your mouth to try and stop the giggles. Apparently, that one sentence was the break you needed from the stress of the quest.

It took a while to calm down, but by then, you were both sporting wide grins, any earlier shyness gone. You felt much more like yourself now. Now that the tension was released, you were able to see that the chariot to pick up Arsenios was here, and Blair was stomping into it angrily. You smirked internally at her furious expression.

"Well," you said, "I suppose we should leave now, if they're here."

"Right." He looked at you, embarrassed in a way. For a second you were confused, until you realized what would have to happen. "You okay with being carried? The chariot is full, by the looks of it."

You nodded, not really processing the action. What you _did_ notice, however, was how warm your skin felt when Jason put his arms under your back and knees and picked you up bridal style. You clasped your hands around his neck in response. You were blushing, you knew that, but you were willing to bet that Jason was blushing just as hard. _Gods,_ _I've been doing a lot of blushing today._

And although your face was bright red, you couldn't keep the smile off your face as you soared through the sky back home.

* * *

The ending was a bit cliche, I think, sorry bout that. And I had some trouble writing this since Jason's my least favourite character (I'm sorry! Don't kill me!) but I hope this is sufficient enough.


	4. Nico di Angelo

This one is in Nico's POV, kay? But it's still Nico x OC. And there is strong language in here!

* * *

"Fuck!"

Nico paused in his walk at the sudden curse word that seemed to come out of nowhere. His eyes darted around in the dark of the night, seeing more than most people would thanks to his control over darkness. He listened for any other sounds, but the forest appeared to have gone completely silent. Shrugging, he continued along. He dismissed the voice as one back at camp.

He hadn't expected anybody to be in the forest anyway; especially not at this time. It was nearly 3 in the morning, meaning everything was pitch black. No light, not even from the moon. The tall, healthy trees blocked out any comfort you could find in it, enveloping the whole forest in a world of dark. Nobody would be crazy enough to go in the forest at night, not when there could be monsters roaming around without you even knowing.

Besides Nico, of course. Besides, he was armed. Not stupid. He had his Stygian iron sword strapped to his hip and a few throwing knives tucked safely away on various parts of his body. It also helped that he could fight and had powers and actually knew how to use the weapons.

His walk wasn't totally random, either. He often took walks during the night since they were so much more _relaxing_ than those during the day. Everything was silent: no birds chirping, the dryads were sleeping, and none of those annoying campers that just _wouldn't leave him alone_ (*cough* Will and Jason *cough*). It was at these times that he could finally get that peace and quiet he deserved after all his time spent in wars and fighting.

"Shit shit shit _shit!_ Get the fuck away from me, you fucking monsters!"

His fists clenched angrily and he gritted his teeth together. Of course, there _had_ to be somebody to ruin his silence. Maybe he should go over there and teach them what a son of Hades can _really_ do. Draw the shadows around them, threaten them a bit with his sword, the usual.

However, he was so caught up in his torture- ahem, _harmless teaching_ \- plans that he almost didn't catch what the person had said;

Had they mentioned monsters?

Realisation came rushing in, and he immediately drew his sword and ran to the direction of the voice. On the way, he mentally berated himself for not noticing all the signs earlier. There had in fact been noises of rustling and loud running, but once again he had thought they were from the camp, perhaps the Hermes cabin playing pranks. But no- they were the sounds of a fight happening.

Sprinting through the forest, he ignored how the branches pulled at his clothes and hair, leaving small scratches on his skin. His only goal was reaching the person who most likely did not have a weapon on them, being stupid enough to venture in here alone. And from the sounds of the fight, there was more than one monster.

Finally, he burst into a clearing, wasting no time to quickly observe the scene before launching unprepared into battle. There was a single girl clad in only blue pajama shorts and t-shirt, no shoes or coat to be seen, even though it had to have been at the most 11 degrees Celsius. Her only protection was a long, thick branch that she was swinging around wildly to keep away 2 large rhino-sized hellhounds.

"Stay back!" she cried out, brandishing her stick. They circled around her, growling and snapping at her, but not pouncing. He wondered why they weren't attacking, considering she was easy prey, but was answered within the second.

One of the beasts lunged towards her, and he almost threw one of his knives in reflex, however the girl managed to solve the problem on her own. She shouted out a string of latin words and a burst of green light erupted from her fingertips and zapped the hound, sending him sliding back a few feet. Although it wasn't enough to defeat them entirely. She cried out again with a "Don't come any closer!" but this time, her voice cracked a little at the end.

Only then could he see how terrified she was; the stick was shaking in her hands, her eyes were wide with unmasked fear and she just barely trembled. He could see in her eyes how little hope she had in herself to survive. Nico wasted no longer- he jumped into the fight.

He was quiet and graceful like a ballet dancer, deadly to those who were not his allies. His sword moved too quickly for the hellhounds to process anything, and since his arrival had been a great surprise, they were dead within seconds. All that was left were two piles of golden powder on the ground.

Nico turned to the girl, barely breaking a sweat. She was still trembling, and when his gaze turned to her, her grip slackened on the branch and it dropped to the ground. She stumbled back a step, back hitting a tree, and slumped down against it. He could hear her breathing heavily, even when she brought her knees to her chest and leaned her head on them. She started muttering, "oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods" over and over again.

Ignoring the part of the brain that wanted him to just leave her alone, Nico decided to stay. "Hey," he called out.

The reaction was immediate. Her head whipped up and she froze at the sight of him, almost as if she were scared of him herself. _But that's nothing new_ , he thought bitterly. _Maybe I should have left._

But then, her body just went limp, as though all the fight had left her in one go. "Oh. Sorry." She sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a second before reopening them. "I'm pretty lucky you were here, wasn't I?" A swallow. "I'd probably be dead if you hadn't been." She shuddered and regained her previous posture.

It was only in times like this that Nico grew uncomfortable, since he had no idea how to comfort someone. Emotions weren't really his thing. In all honesty, his normal advice would be to "get up and get over it" but for some reason he could see that that wouldn't work in this situation.

"So, are you... okay?" _Wow_. He internally winced at his words. Even _he_ knew that was a horrible choice of words. He prepared himself for the glare he was sure he would be receiving. Instead, what came next surprised him to an extent.

The girl raised her head slowly with a raised eyebrow, and simply looked at him for a few seconds. Before he became too awkward, however, her face broke out in a grin and she started laughing.

Nico stared at her, bewildered. Had she not been absolutely terrified a few minutes ago? What had he done to cause her to laugh so much? And once she finished laughing, she took one look at his face and started right back up again. What was so _funny?_

He crossed his arms and waited for her to finish her giggle fit. It took a couple more minutes, but eventually she gasped for breath and started to calm down until she could look at him without grinning once more.

This time, it was his turn to cock an eyebrow. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry. But your face when you tried to 'comfort' me... you obviously don't know what to do!" He started to glare (even though it was completely true) and she hurriedly backtracked. "But, erm, thanks for the help earlier. I really do appreciate it."

"No problem. But what exactly were you doing out here so late?" he asked her. "Didn't you know it was dangerous?"

She actually glared at him. "Well, it's not like I wanted to be here!" She growled angrily at the ground. Luckily, it didn't seem aimed at him. "The Stoll twins told me they do my chores for the next week if I helped out with pranking the Ares cabin." She clenched her hands into fists. "As you can probably guess, when we got found out, they fucking pinned the whole thing on me! So, the Ares bastards grabbed me from my bed a few hours ago and threw me in the fucking woods! Total overkill, if you ask me," she muttered.

"Wait." He was trying to wrap his head around this and piece it with what he saw earlier. "So, you've been fighting those hellhounds for a few hours?" It didn't seem like a girl so thin and poorly equipped could fight monsters for hours on end.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, no. I was wondering the woods for about 2 hours before they found me, then I 'fought' them for about half an hour." She fell silent suddenly, staring at her feet. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "Things get really scary when you're wondering around blindly, no idea where you are, then a howl sounds from directly behind you."

At least he could relate to that. He'd been stuck in the Labyrinth once for about 12 hours when with Minos all those years back. He'd had no idea which way was up or down, right or left. All he could hear was Minos' cackling behind him as he taunted and antagonized him. All he could see was pitch black everywhere.

It had been one of the most horrifying experiences of his life.

Nico shook himself out of his memories violently. It would do no good to hold onto past events. They were over now. His eyes returned to where the girl was. She was holding her arms around herself and _shivering_ as she waited for him to say something. _Oh, shoot._

"Hey, are you cold?" And then he realised that he didn't really acknowledge her earlier comment. Wow, he really _was_ bad at this.

She gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "Well, no shit Sherlock! It's like 10 degrees right now and I'm wearing nothing but a shirt and shorts!"

"Sorry," Nico muttered. "I should lead you back to camp, I guess."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea."

Nico turned back to where he'd run from, expecting the girl to follow him. She did, and they walked in silence together. Nico's hands were stuffed in the pockets of his jacket and the girl's were still rubbing her arms feverishly to warm them up. But neither of them talked to break the silence.

That is, until _she_ did. He had hoped that they would complete the walk in silence, but he supposed not. "My name's Rain. Child of Hecate."

Oh. Right, they hadn't actually been introduced. "Nico," he said curtly. "Son of-"

Rain rolled her eyes at him, cutting him off. "I know who you are. Everybody does." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "And you're not at all the 'scary son-of-Hades kid' everybody makes you out to be. You weren't obligated to help me, but you did."

He just barely managed to hide his complete shock with a scowl. "I'm the Ghost King," he grumbled. "You're supposed to be afraid of me. I'm darkness and death. Nobody likes darkness and death."

"Well, if you're the personification of them, I think I'd like them very much."

This time, he wasn't able to repress the slight widening of his own eyes. Wasn't _everybody_ supposed to be afraid of him? He radiated fear. He wasn't supposed to appear _nice_ to some Hecate kid. People weren't supposed to feel comfortable with him. They should be _terrified_ of him, cowering in fear.

And he liked that very much. He liked how campers steered clear of him and threw wary glances at him. He liked how they didn't trust him to not murder them. He _liked_ it. He wanted it to stay that way. Right?

... Right?

Yeah, of course. It wasn't like there was this small ball of hope buried deep down, squashed by all the anger and fear, that _didn't_ want people to be afraid. That wanted to have friends outside of the Seven, somebody that wasn't forced to hang out with him because of a stupid prophecy. Somebody that was okay with the fact that he was a child of Hades.

There wasn't. Nope. Not at all.

 _Ah, screw it all._

Nico stared down at his feet as they walked, a warm feeling spreading across his cheeks. It wasn't every day he got complimented. It took a good few seconds, but he managed to choke out the word, "Thanks," half hoping Rain wouldn't hear, half hoping she would.

"Eh, no pro- Hey, it's the camp!" Rain pointed excitedly to mess hall, which was right next to the north woods.

He looked up in surprise. So, it was. He hadn't realised how long they'd been walking for.

"Thank you so much Nico! I wouldn't have gotten out of there had you not been there. I owe you my life. But hopefully not literally." And then she spun around, threw her arms around him, squeezed him as hard as she could, and ran off within a split second. She only turned once toward the shell-shocked Nico to wave goodbye, and set off once more.

Nico was frozen. His mind couldn't process what had happened. Had she... hugged him? And he had allowed her to? He could only stare after her as she ran to the infirmary (whoops).

"No, thank _you_ ," he said softly, the wind carrying his words into the silence of the night.

(~)

The next time they saw each other wasn't actually that long after. They went to the same camp, after all, so Nico probably should have expected to be seeing her. Nevertheless, it was still a shock when Will came up the next day, telling him that a girl in the infirmary named Rain wanted to see him.

"Uh... really?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Yes, Sunshine, really. Go get her, tiger." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Nico scowled at him. "Shut up," he muttered, speed walking in the direction of the Big House. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared at anybody who dared to look his way. When he got there, he winced as his name was called. Very, very loudly.

"What the fuck, Nico? How long does it take to walk over to the Big House?" Rain was scowling at him and had her arms crossed over her chest, but he couldn't form any words at the moment. All he could do was stare. Last night, he hadn't really gotten a good look at her, considering how dark it was (he didn't have _night vision_ ). Now, however, he could see her in full light.

For starters, Rain had bright blue hair that was cut sloppily, but still managed to look good. Her skin was as pale as a ghost, possibly as pale as himself. And not many people could accomplish that. Her eyes were a piercing gray; not the calculating one of Athena kids, but a much more vibrant and 'gaze into your soul' kind. She had quite a few earrings that made her look super badass- an industrial piercing shaped like a trident in her left ear (which he frowned at- surely it meant nothing?), a bunch of random ones all over her right ear and a few on her left, a silver lip ring, and finally a simple nose stud. It all gave her a 'I will rip out your eyes' vibe.

"Well?"

Nico realised that he hadn't said anything yet, and snapped his open mouth shut. Struggling to regain his thoughts, he protested, "I was on the other side of camp!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever." Though the corners of her mouth were twitching up.

"So, were your injuries bad?" _Holy Hades,_ Nico thought _, since when did I care?_

Rain shrugged. "Meh. I was treated for mild frostbite and scratches on my feet, plus a bunch of random scratches on my arms and legs. Oh, and overusing my magic." She rolled her eyes again. "Who even knew I could do that?"

Nico suddenly felt bad. Last night, he had just left her when they got back to camp. He didn't even ask if she was hurt. Sure, the injuries weren't bad, but injuries were injuries. They hurt. He would know. "Sorry," he muttered.

She looked surprised. "What? No, it's not your fault. You barely know me, anyway." And then, quick as a blink, her expression was changing to one with a sly grin. "But we could change that."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "Uh- I don't- what are you saying?" he stammered.

She huffed. "Gods, you're clueless. You know, being _friends_?" She gestured at herself and him wildly with her arms.

Looking down at the floor, his mouth responded automatically, saying what he always told himself. "I don't need friends," he said monotonous.

"Suuure you don't. C'mon, everybody needs friends! You could be my first, and I could be yours!"

 _Huh._ He hadn't expected that Rain didn't have any friends. She seemed like the kind of person that would hang out great with somebody like Leo and the Stolls (if they hadn't dumped the prank on her). But it seemed not.

However, this time, he swallowed down his usual "No" and took the time to really consider it. Isn't this what he wanted, deep down? A friend? He was constantly telling himself that he was _fine_ alone, but was he really? He knew that the loneliness was eating him up, and- "Sure," he blurted out.

Her mouth split into a grin and her whole face lit up. "Really? Sweet! This is awesome!" Then she looked down at herself and frowned. "But we're gonna have to wait until 'Doctor Will' lets me out of this shitty place, first. He told me to fucking 'lay down and act like you're enjoying it'!"

Nico couldn't help it- he let out a small laugh. His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he locked eyes with Rain, who looked even more shocked than him. Then she started to slowly laugh, building up, until she was practically dying with the laughs wracking her body. Soon after, Nico joined in, hesitantly at first, then full on once he saw that Rain wouldn't make fun of him.

And if anybody else looked over to find the source of the laughter, he could tell them to fuck off.


	5. Percy Jackson Part 1

ANNABETH AND PERCY ARE NOT DATING. I REPEAT, ANNABETH AND PERCY ARE NOT DATING. THEY ARE JUST REALLY, REALLY GOOD FRIENDS IN THIS ONE-SHOT. Good, now that that's out of the way... Onward to the story!

* * *

He was a hero.

A child of the Big Three.

The best.

He defeated Kronos, lived through two wars, fought countless monsters, and survived _Tartarus._

And who were you?

You were just some lowly child of Morpheus.

Morpheus, who sided with Kronos during the first war.

You barely fought in the wars, never had a quest, and your first monster was nowhere _near_ close to a Minotaur.

So of course he would never notice you. You don't know why you thought otherwise. You knew it would only lead to crushed feelings in the end. But some part of you always clung onto that hope whenever he looked in your direction. Even if it was only for a split second.

Even if it was a mistake.

What made your crush even stupider was that you were afraid of water. Of _water,_ of all things possible. And for whatever reason, you liked the son of Poseidon, god of the sea. Honestly, you frequently wondered what went on inside your head. Most of it was jumbled up nonsense that related to him and translated into 'feelings'. But those feelings were freaking confusing, and you drove yourself crazy trying to guess what they meant.

Somehow, no matter how many times you berated yourself and how hard you tried to convince yourself you felt nothing, the feelings always came back. They rose up in your chest, overtaking all common sense and reduced you to a quiet, shy picture of yourself. You couldn't stop them. You couldn't stop yourself.

You couldn't stop yourself from having a crush on Percy Jackson.

(~)

You weren't one of the kids that everyone knew at camp. Not like Nico and the Seven. You had your own little group of friends with which you spent most of your time with. You often faded into the background until no one was aware that you were even there. You were just a regular camper.

So it came as quite a surprise when one day Annabeth Chase ran up to you, breathing heavily as though she had sprinted from across camp. You waited, confused, as she caught her breath, wondering why on Olympus one of the Seven wanted to talk to you. "(Y/N)," she greeted after a few seconds.

"Erm..." You didn't know what to say. "Hi, Annabeth. Did you... need something?"

She blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Yes, actually. I need your help."

You swallowed nervously and willed yourself to not stutter as you spoke. "Is something wrong?" you asked.

Annabeth sighed, and with that one movement, all previous composure seemed to escape her. She sagged, shoulders slumping forward, a weary expression on her face. It was then that you noticed the dark bags under her bloodshot eyes, how her shirt was rumpled and creased, how she held her knife loosely in her hand.

She looked downright _exhausted._

You took a step forward in concern. It looked like she would collapse at any given moment. You reached out a hand, intent on setting it down on her shoulder, but hesitated halfway through. You barely knew each other; she probably didn't want you to worry or pity her. Instead, you asked, "Are you alright?"

Her head shot up as though she had forgotten you were there. She dragged a hand across her face tiredly. "It's not me you should be worrying about- it's Percy."

Immediately, you felt your heart rate speed up and your palms get sweaty simply by mentioning his name. Honestly, you were like any other girl with a crush, and you hated yourself for it. Especially right now. Now was not the time for your hormones to act up. Not when something bad could have happened to Percy.

You spoke rapidly. "What happened? Is he okay? Why do you need _my_ help?" You sighed internally. _So much for acting calm and collected._

Annabeth looked around, and you, copying her, noticed that there were quite a few campers eavesdropping on your conversation. They were probably wondering what a demigod like you was doing talking to a demigod like her.

Her voice dropped down to a quiet murmur. "Let's talk somewhere else. Your cabin?" You nodded. Cabin 24 was empty right now, your 2 other siblings being elsewhere. You were actually supposed to be in a canoeing lesson right now, but considering your fear of water (stupid, wasn't it? Having a crush on the son of Poseidon, but afraid of water) you decided to ditch.

It didn't take long for you to arrive at Morpheus' cabin, one of the few cabins that had a circle design. Its white wooden walls did not stand out much amongst the other cabins. However, after opening a plain door with an intricately carved closed eye knocker, a whole different world opened up to people. The walls smoothed out to light beige-gold marble, on which there were swirls of black lines that gave off the sense of wind caressing the cabin. A few bunks hugged the walls to leave the middle wide open, where the softest feather chairs invited you to sit down and take a nap. The domed roof had a cacophony of dream catchers hanging down, all created with the detail only Hephaestus had an eye for. Being inside would make one feel as though in a fog, like they were dreaming, and a twinkling tune was always playing.

You loved your cabin.

You shut the door behind the two of you and looked at Annabeth expectantly. Her previously tired look hardened unexpectedly and you took a step back involuntarily, eyes widening in surprise. You hadn't done anything to anger her, had you?

She must have noticed how you were basically trembling in fear at her (because she could be seriously scary when she wanted to be) since she softened her gaze almost immediately. "I'm sorry," she sighed, "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that... I don't know how to deal with this." She hesitated for a few seconds, then the story came rushing out of her. "Percy's been having nightmares. Really bad nightmares. He's been waking up every night, _screaming_ , and I'm the only one that can calm him down. We've tried drinking nectar before sleeping, having me next to him all night, and even _mortal_ techniques. I just... I don't know what to do. Nothing's working." She looked at you helplessly, an expression so foreign on her normally collected face that you had to blink twice to make sure you saw it correctly. "You're the daughter of the god of Dreams. Can you help?"

Oh.

 _Oh._

It made sense, after all. With everything he'd been through, he was bound to have nightmares. How had you not noticed it? It was obvious. He looked so tired during his sword lessons, and every one of his smiles seemed forced. You could've done something. You could have offered your help before it became a problem. Now it was too late, and Percy was suffering. You felt disgusted with yourself.

But with that came a newfound determination. You wanted to help him get better. This was _your_ area of expertise; you knew what to do and how to do it. You were (not to brag) the Morpheus child with the most control over your powers, and the oldest. If you couldn't, than who could? It would have to be you, no matter what.

You nodded. "I think I can."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and all of a sudden, pulled you into a tight hug. You froze. "Thank you so much," she murmured, and just as quick, released you as if nothing had happened. "But there's one condition; you can't let Percy know that you're helping him. He refuses to accept any help. And I doesn't want others to know of his sleeping problems. So, if you can, try to be discreet."

You barely managed to nod again before she was out of your cabin, leaving the door swinging wide open. Slowly, you relaxed once more, until the realisation of the situation hit you.

What exactly had you gotten yourself into?

(~)

From there, night came quickly. Annabeth had told you earlier that Percy had a fixed sleeping schedule; he always went to bed at 10:15, directly after the campfire sing-a-long, and usually fell asleep around 10:30. So, you were lying in bed waiting nervously until the minute hand hit the 30 minute mark. Your siblings were asleep already, which was why you were staying as silent as possible. If they woke up, Percy's secret could be exposed, and you _really_ didn't want to have to deal with a furious Annabeth.

A few minutes later, and it was time. You let out a long, slow breath, trying to calm yourself before you entered his dream. You knew what you would be seeing would be terrifying, if Percy Jackson woke up screaming because of it. But you needed to steel your nerves and get on with it if you wanted to help him.

You inhaled, and broke the barrier between reality and dream.

 _The first thing you noticed was the heat. The air was scalding. You hissed with pain as your arms broke out in angry red rashes. Every breath you took rattled, the sulfurous air making it sting your lungs. You were sweating up a storm, but the sheets of sweat on your body evaporated the second they were exposed._

 _But in a split second, the temperature dropped to freezing, the air becoming colder and thicker. You shivered, yet at the same time your skin was_ burning _from the sudden climate change. Your teeth chattered noisily and you rubbed your arms in an attempt to warm them up though at the same time to get rid of the pinpricks of fire all over them._

 _Once your eyes adjusted to the darkness, you could see your surroundings. You were in some sort of forest. Branch-less black trees soared into the sky, disappearing among the dark fog. The ground was smooth and pale, almost like ice coated it._

 _A shout startled you from your thoughts, and you turned to see Percy, Annabeth, and some giant with wild white hair surrounded by a dozen winged hags with brass talons and glowing red eyes. They were attacking the trio furiously, snarling and slashing with their claws._

 _The first thing you did was hide behind one of the thicker trees. Percy could_ not _see you. In demigod dreams, the dreamer is still conscious, so should he realise you were in his dream, things would escalate badly._

 _Once you were sure that you were well hidden, you allowed yourself to peek out from behind. What you saw horrified you._

 _Percy was swinging his sword at each monster that launched itself at him, and with each kill, he grimaced in pain. Blood drenched his shirt, especially on both sides of his rib cage and was dripping from almost every point on his body. His eyes were sold and terrified, but his gaze was focused elsewhere._

 _"Annabeth!" he shouted desperately. You shifted to see Annabeth, stumbling around with her arms straight out in front of her as though she were blind. "Annabeth!" he shouted again._

 _However, she seemed to not hear or see him as she continued to walk in circles. "Percy!" she cried out. "Where are you?"_

 _"I'm right here!" He sliced through another monster and doubled back in pain, clutching his stomach. "Please, Annabeth!" he croaked._

 _Annabeth shrieked as she stumbled into a tree, stabbing at it with a rock. "Why did you leave me, Percy?"_

 _"I didn't! Come on, Wise Girl!" Percy pleaded. When that didn't work, he whirled back into the monsters, snarling. "Take her curse away!" he snapped._

 _They cackled in response._ Yes, indeed, take her curse away we shall, _they hissed. And they started to move toward Annabeth, talons extended eagerly._

 _Perry's furious expression shifted into one of horror. "What are you- No- no get away from her! Get away! ANNABETH!" he screamed, and they pounced._

 _Up until this point, you had been watching, entranced yet horrified by the actions taking place. Percy's anguished screams were what broke you out of your spell._

 _You shook your head, tearing your eyes away from the gruesome scene before you. You needed to change the dream into one of happiness, and that required concentration. Especially on a dream as terrifying as_ this.

 _You closed your eyes and started imagining the changes. The forest became the one back at camp. The giant disappeared altogether. The mass of monsters attacking Annabeth morphed into one very playful Mrs. O'Leary. Annabeth's screams of pain changed into laughter as the hellhound licked her face and clothes. All the blood and wounds on the two of them faded away, as did the heavy aura of death._

 _You watched as Percy slowly realised what had happened, that it had all been a nightmare now changed to a dream. He looked at Annabeth, who was now trying to push the giant dog off her, without much success. And he started to laugh, even when Annabeth threatened to eat all his mom's cookies if he didn't help her._

 _You sighed in relief. You did it. You made his nightmare into a good dream, one he probably hadn't had in quite a long time. It made a tinge of pride force it's way into your chest and glow brightly, knowing you had done something nice for the person you admired most._

 _However, you knew you had to leave. It was his dream. You couldn't interfere any more. As you prepared to open the rift between dream and reality, a sudden shift in the dream made you pause._

 _You looked up, and with growing horror, saw something that terrified you more than anything you'd seen today;_

 _The dream was changing back into a nightmare._

 _Before Mrs. O'Leary could start eating Annabeth, you hurriedly set the scene back to what you'd envisioned earlier, then staggered back and sat down heavily._

 _It wasn't possible. That shouldn't have happened. Once a dream was changed, it couldn't have reverted back to its original state. That wasn't how it worked._

 _The only way for that to happen were to be if somebody else were fighting your changes as you made them, but who...?_

 _You glanced up again, and had to quickly wrap several strands of the dream around the scene for it to turn back._

 _Every time you turned around, the dream started to change. And you didn't know who or what was causing it. So, you decided, until you did know and found a solution, you would have to stay in Percy's dream for the rest of the night._

 _And that you did. You stayed all night to make sure that the dream wouldn't turn back to a nightmare. The only time you left was when you felt Percy waking up, to return to the real world. You opened up the rift and jumped through, but an uneasy feeling stayed with you as you did._

(~)

You awoke with a gasp, sitting up suddenly in your bed, then falling back down again with a groan.

You felt like complete crap, even with sunlight brightening up the already luminous white cabin. Your eyes felt heavy and threatened to close, but that was to be expected considering you spent the whole night fighting an invisible foe.

Rubbing your eyes, you glanced at the clock. 7:32. That gave you enough time to go the bathroom and get changed. Hopefully, splashing some cold water on your face would wake you up.

By the way, it did not.

You made your way to breakfast, feeling grumpy and miserable as hell. One of the downsides to being a child of Morpheus was that you needed to dream or at least sleep well every night in order to feel rested, that of which you did not do. You plonked yourself down at the Morpheus table, wished for a glass of water and pancakes, and began eating.

"Hey, (Y/N)? You okay?" You looked up from your food into the faces of two worried kids sitting across from you. Your siblings, Rex and Charity.

Rex was a tiny, fiery redhead with a bubbly and sweet personality that made you want to hug him as tight as you can, but was also the sassiest 9-year-old you've ever met. His freckles and high-pitched voice would make anyone melt, though you learned the hard way what a bit of cuteness can really hide.

Charity was the exact opposite. She had long, silky blond hair and foggy grey eyes that always looked like they're staring at something into the distance. She seemed to float as she walked, constantly in a dream-like state, and when she spoke, her voice held a faraway time to it, as though she was speaking to you but wasn't as the same time.

You loved them both.

Today, however, you were not in the mood to deal with them, or anybody. You just wanted to sleep and be done with the day. You signed and dragged a hand across your face. "Yeah, I'm good, just tired. I'm pretty sure a Hypnos kid played a prank on me. I feel like I haven't slept a wink." You felt bad lying to them, but you couldn't tell them about Percy.

They nodded in understanding. Well, Rex did. Charity was staring at something behind you. You assumed she had zoned out again, until a voice sounded from behind you.

"(Y/N), can we talk?" It was Annabeth.

You nearly fell backwards in surprise, but managed to control yourself (while glaring at a snickering Rex) and turned around in your seat. "Yeah, sure." You got up to follow her as she walked to the Athena cabin.

The second the door closed behind you, Annabeth's face broke out into a grin and she hugged you tightly, much like last time. This time, however, you hugged back, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"Thank you _so_ much, (Y/N). You have no idea how grateful I am." She gave one final squeeze before stepping back, still grinning widely. "I don't know what you did, but it worked. Percy woke up normally this morning, and told me he felt really rested. He looked really happy."

You tried to smile back, but you knew right away that it came out more like a grimace. You yawned and rubbed your eyes. "No problem."

Her smile vanished, mouth curving down into a concerned frown. "Are you alright? You look really tired."

You hesitated to tell her. After all, she had looked so happy a moment before. Then you went and ruined it with your terrible acting skills. But then again, she deserved to know what was going on with her best friend.

"I've... got some bad news," you said dejectedly.

"Oh," Annabeth murmured. "Of course. Of course there's bad news. We never get a break." She sighed. "Lay it on me."

Feeling even guiltier, you told her of how the dream didn't stay the same, and how you believed there was another force at play, watching as her frown deepened with every point.

When you were finished, she didn't say anything right away. She simply stood there, staring at you, as you grew more uncomfortable under her gaze. Eventually, she said, "So, what are you going to do now?"

You really only saw one option, even though that option was the one that would cause you the most mental pain. "I suppose I'll have to keep manually changing his nightmares until I can figure out what's happening."

Annabeth hesitated. "But then you'll never get any rest."

Although that was true, you could see in her eyes how much she wanted you to keep helping him. You could see how badly she cared for him like a sister would to her brother, how she hated seeing him in such agony. She would do anything to help him, because he'd already been through so much.

"I would not, that's true." You bowed your head down, not daring to look at her. "But he deserves it," you finished quietly.

"Thank you," Annabeth whispered.

As you turned to leave, however, she grabbed your arm to ask one last thing. "What does he dream about? He won't tell me, but I need to know." Her eyes were pleading, desperate.

You closed your own, turning the dream over in your head. "It's this forest of trees with no branches. You and him are there with some giant with wild white hair, and are being attacked by some harpy things. But you're blind and can't see or hear Percy. The harpies go after you and... I changed the dream at that point." You opened your eyes.

Annabeth had gone as pale as Nico di Angelo. She obviously recognized the dream, and it terrified her. She drew in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. "Ok," she whispered. "Thanks." She let go of your arm, and you left to allow her to organize her thoughts.

To be honest, all you wanted to do was collapse in bed and sleep for the rest of the day, but unfortunately, you had lessons to attend. You sighed and set off for your first one, sword and shield with Clarisse. You mentally prepared yourself to get your butt kicked.

And that you did. By the end of the lesson, you were sporting multiple new blooming bruises, aching ribs, and several cuts around your arms. You weren't good at sword fighting at all, and Clarisse did _not_ hold back. Your choice of weapon was a staff, smooth and graceful, a perfect fit for a delicate person like yourself. Even though you were better with throwing knives, you would turn to your staff in times of need.

Throughout the rest of the day, you proceeded to be thrown off a Pegasus, make a fool of yourself in front of the Hermes cabin by constantly losing your shoe (or did they keep stealing it?), and nearly seared half your face off on the climbing wall. You were so tired, because not only were you technically awake the whole night even though you were sleeping, you had been over-using your powers. You almost fell asleep in Arts and Crafts and would have dropped a scorching hammer on your foot had someone not poked you.

All in all, today was turning out to be absolutely _awful_. You dreaded to repeat it again tomorrow.

The only good part of it was that you had Swim and Beach time with the nereids, so you could skip and go to your bed. And after that was an hour of free time, so you got 3 whole hours of sleep before dinner. _Also,_ you mused _, if I skipped my lesson and the campfire after dinner, I could use that time to work out what's happening to Percy. Yes, perfect._

You nodded your head firmly to yourself. That was a good plan.

"Uh, (Y/N)? Who are you nodding to?"

You sighed. _But it will be a long 4 hours until then._

(~)

Once dinner rolled around, you felt much more cheerful and less gloomy than earlier after your nap. You went to eat, finishing your food in a hurry, and left without so much as a word. You wanted to get this thing done with so that Percy would stop having nightmares as soon as possible. Luckily, Annabeth had allowed you access to the Athena kids' library, and you took full advantage of that permission. Grabbing several books about nightmares and demigod dreams, you made your way back to your cabin and plopped yourself down in a chair, opening the first book and starting to read.

Three hours passed by a lot quicker than you had expected. And in that time, after getting through one very, very thick book, you learned basically nothing. Any useful information was just what you had already gathered and inferred, like how a dream could only change if the dreamer or someone else in the dream forcefully changed it. You managed to find just one piece of info that could help, a single line at the end of the paragraph;

 _If a demigod is having a recurring nightmare of the same thing, it could mean that something bad will happen in relation to it, a glimpse of the future of sorts. Use the nightmares to try and prepare for what they are indicating will happen. If the nightmares are constant, but of different scenes, another being could be altering their dreams in order to cause the nightmares. In these cases, the demigod should be able to gain control over themselves and change the nightmare to a peaceful dream. However, if the demigod is unable to do so, two things may be happening; One, the being is so powerful that it has complete control of the demigod's dreams, or two, the nightmare is happening from somewhere within the demigod._

You scowled at the book and snapped it shut. That had been a complete waste of time. All you got was more questions instead of answers. Plus, you still had 3 books, all quite thick thank you very much, to get through. You groaned and flopped down backward on your pillow.

Glancing sleepily at your clock, you noted it was... _Holy Hera!_ It was already 10:28! You scrambled to shove all the books underneath your bed (sorry, Athena kids) and turned your light off, plunging your room into darkness.

 _This was going to be one long night..._

(~)

Unfortunately, you were right. You felt like a zombie once you 'woke' up, yet adrenaline was also strumming through your veins at the same time. The nightmare had been even worse than the night before. However, that's not why you were pumped up. No, you discovered something.

You spent a good portion of the night delving deep into Percy's nightmare. You went straight to the core of it, which was normally not a good idea, since seeing the raw roots of a nightmare could make a demigod go insane. Thankfully, you were skilled in your powers, and just barely managed to avoid going crazy.

But the core of the nightmare horrified you so badly, you almost threw yourself out of his head to escape it. Normally, nightmares and dreams develop in the brain, so you expected yourself to be led up to his head. But this nightmare... this nightmare...

Why did this nightmare take root in his soul?

* * *

There will be a part two to this one! It was just getting so long I needed to cut it short, and this seemed to be the perfect place to do it (I have been taking lessons from Uncle Rick... Mwahahahahaaaa). Sorry! Also, yes, I had Luna Lovegood in mind when writing Charity's character, so that's why they look so similar.


	6. AN

So, I'm sorry. The only excuses I really have are school, exams, band, and basic laziness.

(Besides, no one really reads this so-)

 _Anyways_ , good news is I've finished Percy part 2! And more good news (or bad, however you see it) is that is got so long that there is now a Percy part 3 and I'm pretty sure I'll be stretching it to Percy part 4, which means that this is now a separate story. It is called Dream For Me | Percy Jackson so if you want to know the rest of the story, go there!

I've also got an idea for the next one-shot. It will be with Frank, and expect a joke about Canadians made by Leo at the beginning since I'm Canadian and those tumblr jokes are hilarious.

Till next time!


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